Chapter 2

When I saw my dad hit the ground hard, Lucas finally seemed to snap out of it.

“Dad, I’m so sorry! I didn’t mean to—I didn’t see you there!”

He quickly stepped forward, trying to help my dad up, but my dad pushed him away with force.

My father glared at him, his voice heavy with anger. “I don’t care if you saw me or not. Get out of here! My daughter needs rest!”

Seeing my dad’s fury, Lucas obediently left. He knew full well that even though my family was bankrupt now, my dad’s connections were still far beyond anything he could handle.

The moment Lucas was gone, I rushed to help my dad up, but he pulled me into his arms instead.

“Claire, don’t be afraid. Dad’s here now,” he said, his voice shaking with emotion.

I clung to him tightly and started sobbing uncontrollably.

I couldn’t understand—why was I always the second choice?

I cried until exhaustion overtook me, and I fell into a deep sleep.

The trauma of the past few days haunted my dreams. Strange, nightmarish visions filled my mind, pulling me into a distorted world where I was forced to confront the absurdity of my life.

I saw myself as a naïve teenager, hopelessly infatuated with Lucas Rivers, the most popular boy in school.

Every class seemed to have someone like him: smart, polite, and effortlessly charming.

But Lucas’s life wasn’t as perfect as it appeared. His mother had been a victim of assault, and he was the child born from that violence.

Shortly after his birth, his mother was institutionalized for schizophrenia, leaving Lucas to be raised by his grandparents.

But they never treated him as their own. To them, he was a painful reminder of the tragedy that had ruined their daughter’s life.

My sympathy for him marked the beginning of my own tragedy.

We attended an elite class at our school, where half the students were there because of their grades, and the other half because of their family wealth.

Lucas, always the top student, was the target of jealousy and bullying.

That’s when I stepped in, defending him time and time again.

At first, Lucas didn’t seem to care about me. He barely acknowledged my existence.

But then one day, I got into a fight with another student who was mocking him. That student shoved me to the ground, and I fractured my wrist trying to break my fall.

From that day on, Lucas started treating me differently. He began looking out for me in small ways, and I mistook that for something deeper.